Without the Sight
by Fellykins
Summary: A young Spoink is teased relentlessly and shunned from his community when others learn he doesn't have the Sight at the same time as his peers. Thankfully, there are a few who believe in him despite everything and help him realize his potential.
1. The Sight

**Author's Note:** This chapter will be a little shorter than the rest, but my goal for this chapter is just to explain the premise of the story a little bit before we really get into the action. This is the first chapter story I've posted in a while and also the first thing I've posted on in a while, so wish me luck!

They say Psychic type Pokemon are born with the Sight. It is a power typically found in pure Psychic type Pokemon, but they say some Pokemon that are half-Psychic type and half of another type can have it too.

The Sight is a fascinating power for those who have it. It allows those with it to see in times of darkness even when they normally would not be able to do so. It also allows them to see visions of the future. Sometimes it's doom and gloom, and sometimes it's happiness. The Pokemon doesn't choose the emotion seen in the vision nor when they see it, the vision chooses the emotion and when the Pokemon sees it. It's all random.

What is known is that once a Pokemon taps into their powers of the Sight, they have them for life. For pure Psychic type Pokemon, they generally discover their powers at a young age, sometimes as early as weeks after they're born but generally before they start attending school. For half-Psychic type Pokemon, discovery of their powers can take months to years. It is not as instant as a pure Psychic type's discovery.

The ability to see in all darkness is seen first. The first vision can happen hours after gaining the ability to see clearly in the darkness to months or sometimes years after the darkness. There is no timeline for seeing the first vision. Some Psychic types don't see one until they've reached adulthood. Others see one hours after tapping into their Sight. Every Pokemon is different, but once the Sight is tapped into, visions are inevitable.

But rarely, pure Psychic type Pokemon don't tap into the Sight at all as a child. Some never tap into it at all. Those Pokemon are typically shunned and outcasted from their communities. Those that tap into the Sight late are welcomed back into the community after some time, but most never want to rejoin it after the awful behavior they experience from those they believed were their friends and family.

Some realize that their powers are stronger when tapped into later in life, as one young Psychic type will learn on his own adventure into gaining the Sight.


	2. Without the Sight

**Author's Note:** Gonna address a few things here before I get into the bulk of my story. Firstly, I see there's a few reviews on my stylistic choices (such as capitalizing Pokemon names and not using something to separate my author's note from the rest of my story), and I'd like to note that those are very much stylistic choices that I choose to make. I've seen people write stories different ways, making their own stylistic choices, and the stylistic choices I make are the ones I choose to make. Secondly, with the "times of darkness" bit, that was meant to mean literal darkness; that was poor writing on my part, but hopefully it's clarified now and will be clarified further on throughout the story. Thirdly, I generally write stories that are a little different, for lack of better term, that the typical trainer goes on adventure kinda story. Hence why Pokemon are going to school and all. It's sorta like teaching kids basic stuff, but yeah. The shunning stuff will be explained further in this chapter, so I'm not gonna get into too much detail with it here. Finally, I have zero desire to block anyone for their comments on my stories; I appreciate the warnings about certain users, but getting involved in any kinda drama isn't what I'm here for. If people want to leave comments on my stories or read them, they're free to do so. I'm not going to stop them. I think that's everything I wanted to say, and hopefully my author's notes won't be this long in the future. For now though, I'm going to press onward with the story!

It was the first day of school for a young Spoink, and to say he was nervous was an understatement. He had the typical first day of school jitters, yes, but that wasn't the only thing holding him back. His mother told him not to worry though, and his father gave him a firm pat on the back that nearly knocked him over before he bounced off to The Academy, where all children who called the Underground Caverns their home attended school.

Spoink arrived and took his seat in his classroom, Room 4. He was the first to arrive, but as the starting time got closer and closer, more and more of his classmates filled the room and took their seats. Spoink took a seat in the back, so it was a little while before an Abra and a Drowzee took their seats on either side of him.

All of his classmates were Psychic types, which was to be expected. All Pokemon who lived in the Underground Caverns were Psychic types, whether they were pure or half.

"Good morning, students," the Hypno that took his place at the front of the classroom said after the morning bell rang. "I'm Mr. Hypno, and I'll be your teacher for this year. Why don't we all go around the room and share our names and what we know about our Sight?"

One by one, Spoink's classmates introduced himself, and as more and more of them shared their knowledge about the Sight, Spoink's nerves were rising. He had to force himself to stop trembling in his seat so that those around him wouldn't become suspicious.

But then his turn came, and he focused his gaze on Mr. Hypno, for he had a calming presence about him that helped Spoink speak. "Um, hi, I'm Spoink," he said. "And uh, I don't know too much about my Sight yet. I only tapped into mine yesterday."

Mr. Hypno nodded and silenced the snickers from a few of Spoink's classmates to allow the Abra next to him to speak without having to shout over his classmates. Spoink sank down in his seat and kept his gaze focused on his desk for the remainder of the class.

Recess came, and Mr. Hypno allowed the Pokemon to be unsupervised in the room for just a moment. It was at that time that an Elgyem and an Espurr came up to the Spoink, who was in a corner of the room by himself. Their classmates were scattered around the middle of the room, playing games of their own.

"Hey, Spoink," the Espurr said. Elgyem nodded.

"Hi," Spoink replied, looking up from his toys at the two Pokemon standing near him.

"Wanna play a game with us?" Espurr asked.

Spoink shrugged. "Sure. What kinda game?"

The Espurr and the Elgyem looked at each other. Then, the Espurr pointed to the closet in the room, where supplies and the toys were stored. "You gotta go in that closet, and you can't come out until we say so."

Any color that was in Spoink's face left it immediately, but he kept his composure as best as he could. "Um… uh, okay," Spoink replied. He bounced off to the closet with Espurr and Elgyem behind him. Once inside, Espurr closed the door behind him, and suddenly, there was a roar of laughter from Spoink's classmates, Espurr and Elgyem included.

Spoink paled and sank to the floor. His eyes couldn't adjust to the darkness in the room. He used his stubby arms to feel for a light switch, but he couldn't find one. If there was one in the closet, he couldn't reach it either, even when he bounced up and down. He sank back to the floor again.

"Could someone turn on the light?" he asked timidly. Could his classmates even hear him outside of the closet?

"Can't you see in there?" a female Pokemon chimed in.

"Yeah, I thought you said you discovered your Sight yesterday!"

"If you have your Sight, surely you can see in that dark and scary closet."

Spoink felt his body trembling. That was the thing. He _couldn't_ see in the closet. It was too dark. He needed light.

Sudden bangs on the door made him jump, but once he realized it was just his classmates tormenting him and laughing at his lack of Sight, he sank down once more. Some of his classmates saw through his lie earlier when he'd introduced himself and now the whole class was ganging up on him.

"What are you all doing?" Mr. Hypno asked. Spoink perked up a little bit. Help had come. "And where's Spoink?"

The Pokemon cleared a path for Mr. Hypno as he approached the closet. When he opened the door, the light from the classroom was enough for him to see a trembling Spoink inside.

"All of you to your seats now," he said. The Pokemon went to their seats, except for Spoink, who remained in the closet, still trembling. "You too, Spoink."

Spoink slowly bounced over to his seat, sinking into it as he'd done earlier after he'd introduced himself. His gaze was focused on the desk in front of him.

"What you all did was not acceptable," Mr. Hypno said. "As I'm sure you're all aware now, young Spoink does not have the Sight yet, as he'd told us earlier in the day. I was already aware of this, but it was not information to be shared among the students for this reason. Bullying and teasing Spoink will not be tolerated at The Academy. Is that understood?"

There were some nods and a few verbal affirmations from the other Pokemon in the class, but for the most part, Spoink's classmates seemed to shrug it all off.

"All of you, except for Spoink, will be staying late today," Mr. Hypno said. This time, there were groans from all of Spoink's classmates, and Spoink felt a little glad that he wouldn't have to stay behind with his awful classmates today.

But then Mr. Hypno started to drone on into his lesson, and Spoink's gaze went to his desk. Being locked in the closet was only the beginning, Spoink realized. The students were allowed to work in groups for an assignment, and Spoink was forced to work alone because none of the other students wished to work with him. At lunch, he ate alone, away from all of his other classmates, who laughed and whispered loudly about his lack of Sight whenever they passed by him.

By the end of the day, Spoink was glad to get out of the classroom and out of The Academy. What he wasn't glad about was having to return to the school tomorrow and for the several days after that. It was going to be a long school year, he realized, and it wasn't one he was looking forward to. It was everything he'd dreaded and feared.


	3. Alone in the Dark

**Author's Note:** Woo, chapter 3 already! I typically struggle a lot more with my writing and pushing chapters out on a regular basis, but I'm glad that this finally isn't so much the case anymore since I'm finally feeling a desire to write. Not too much to address from the reviews from chapter 2 this time around, other than when Spoink claimed he tapped into his Sight the day before school started, he was intentionally lying. His teacher knew, but that wasn't supposed to be something the students were supposed to know because, y'know, fears of bullying and stuff; Spoink knew he'd be bullied if he told the truth, so that's why he lied. Also, I'm gonna actually put a divider between my author's notes and the start of the narrative just because I remembered I used to do it in some, if not all, of my older stories (that are still published here on the site because I didn't have the heart to remove anything that was already completed).

The tormenting never stopped. The bullying never stopped. Though the students heard Mr. Hypno's warning loud and clear, it didn't stop them. They just got smarter about it. And Spoink, being the naive, hopeful Pokemon that he was, hoped that each time one of his classmates actually spoke to him, it was because they wanted to be his friend. But each time, he was also wrong, so very wrong.

It was reaching a point where Spoink was starting to feel alone. It was reaching a point where his mother had to force him to go to school each day for attendance at The Academy was compulsory until the child was fully evolved, and parents would be punished if their children didn't attend.

"If I get in trouble because of you not going to school, you're going to be grounded for life," his mother would tell him. "Now get out of bed and go to school."

Being grounded for life actually sounded good to Spoink, but he didn't want to feel his mother's wrath for not going when he didn't want to, so he reluctantly went. Day after day, he dealt with the relentless bullying on his own.

He was alone in the darkness.

It wasn't always literal darkness. There was light, but these were dark times in Spoink's life and he truly wished he was out of them.

There was nothing more that he wanted than to be friends with some of his classmates. He wanted to be able to sit with them at lunch. He wanted to be able to play games with them and not be the one forced to sit on the sidelines to watch. He wanted to be one of the first ones picked when they chose teams in games, not the last one delegated to whatever team was forced to have him. He wanted to not be the punching bag.

But he wasn't friends with anyone in his class. He wasn't able to sit with anyone at lunch; he sat alone every day, off in a corner far away from everyone else. He was never able to play games with his classmates; he sat alone and did his own thing and sometimes watched his classmates have fun. He was always the last one picked for teams, forced to go to whatever team was forced to have him, and then he was always the punching bag.

It was as if he had an infectious disease and just speaking to Spoink would cause him to spread it. Not having his Sight was one thing. His classmates knowing it was another.

After a month of the relentless teasing, Spoink found himself staying late in the school one day. There was no sense in going home. He wasn't hungry, and the things he once enjoyed, he found no more enjoyment in them. There was a dull sense of satisfaction in doing stuff. Every day was the same routine. Wake up, get ready for school, eat a few bites of breakfast, go to school, come home, do homework, eat dinner, and go to bed. It was a boring routine, if he was completely honest. On the weekends, there was no school, but he generally stayed in his room and laid in bed all day until he absolutely had to leave his room.

But finally, his parents saw the pain in what was happening in his life, and finally, they stepped in and reached out to the school principal, an elderly Darmanitan who was typically in his Zen Form. And thus, a meeting had been arranged for the young Spoink who endured relentless bullying after school one day in the principal's office.

It was just the Spoink, the Darmanitan, his Hypno teacher, and an Alakazam in attendance, but even with just them around, Spoink felt uncomfortable. The Academy was supposed to be a safe place, free from bullying, and yet here he was, in this building enduring relentless bullying with no protection from the teachers.

Okay, well, that wasn't entirely true. Mr. Hypno made valiant efforts to try and protect him, but nothing helped. The students just kept up with their bullying and took extra care to not let Mr. Hypno or any other teacher see it.

"How are you today?" Principal Darmanitan asked. Spoink only shrugged. "Do you know why you're here?" Spoink shrugged again. "Your parents reached out to us and asked us to help you tap into your Sight."

"Okay," Spoink replied.

"You'll remain in Mr. Hypno's class for the year, but you'll be taking after school lessons with Mr. Alakazam as well," Principal Darmanitan said. Spoink nodded.

"My classroom is room 10," Mr. Alakazam said. "I look forward to seeing you there on Monday after school."

"Okay," Spoink said.

"Do you have any questions, Spoink?" Mr. Hypno asked. Spoink shook his head.

There was nothing to ask. All he could do was hope that whatever Mr. Alakazam had in store for him worked. Otherwise, these after school lessons would just be another addition to his already awful days.


	4. Teacher

**Author's Note:** Time between chapters is probably gonna get a little lengthy. Going to try not to make it be too long, but no promises. Life gets a little busy sometimes, and sometimes, I'm just not always emotionally up to writing. I do have the fullest intent to finish this story, however, if only because I don't want to start another story I'm itching to write while I've got this one going because I know I'll just drop this one completely and not finish it at all. Such is the life of a writer with many ideas and not nearly enough time to finish writing them.

Monday came around much quicker than Spoink was hoping for, to be honest. There was no sense of enjoyment for the young Psychic type even on weekends because he knew that the following Monday, he'd have to return to the very place he hated.

At least today would be a little different.

There would still be the loneliness. There would still be the relentless bullying and teasing behind Mr. Hypno's back. None of that would change.

No, instead, Spoink would actually have to stay back at The Academy, unlike the rest of his classmates, to meet with Mr. Alakazam.

He was thankful to learn that word of this hadn't spread just yet among his classmates. There were still some secrets to be kept. None of them even seemed to know that Spoink had a meeting with Principal Darmanitan the previous Friday. If they did, they weren't talking about it, though perhaps that had something to do with how Mr. Hypno was constantly in the room, watching over them to make sure nothing was being said.

As the day went by, Spoink's nerves were rising. He was unable to eat lunch because there was a sense of nausea in his stomach. The students around him making fun of him didn't help. On a normal day, he would've been able to ignore it and eat his food anyways. Today, with his nerves at a new high, he couldn't manage it. Spoink picked at his meal, but the majority of it went to waste.

At the end of the day, as Spoink's classmates and the other students in the school were making their way out of the building for the day, Spoink made his way to room 10, where he was to meet Mr. Alakazam for the first of many lessons.

Upon arrival, he had to wait for a few of the older students to leave, and of course, they saw the young Spoink arrive. To no one's surprise, they started whispering as they traveled through the halls and towards The Academy's exit. Spoink sighed. Even the older students were aware of his lack of Sight.

But there was one thing that caught Spoink's attention.

"They say Mr. Alakazam tapped into his Sight late too," one of the older students, a Duosion, said.

"Really?" his friend, an Elgyem, asked.

"Yeah, that's what I've heard anyways," the Duosion replied.

The rest of their conversation was lost for they were too far away for Spoink to hear at that point, and he didn't want to follow them lest he become the victim of more bullying from the older students as well. Getting it from the younger students was enough; he didn't need it from the older ones too.

But now he potentially had something in common with Mr. Alakazam, if what that Duosion and Elgyem were saying was true.

Spoink entered the room. "Mr. Alakazam? I'm here."

The Alakazam turned and nodded to one of the seats. "I'll be with you in a moment."

Spoink moved towards one of the seats in the front of the room. There was nothing to fear here, hopefully. There was a comforting presence here now. Finally, there was someone that was like him, or so he wanted to believe. That belief led him to sit in front of the room. That belief made some of the fear he held go away.

He just hoped it was true.

"How are you?" Mr. Alakazam asked once he was done organizing his desk.

Spoink shrugged. "Can I ask you something, sir?"

"Of course," Mr. Alakazam replied.

"When did you tap into your Sight for the first time?" Spoink asked.

Mr. Alakazam sighed. His eyes wandered to the door of the classroom, almost as if he knew that one of his students was aware of it, despite the generational gap between him and them. Which student it was was beyond him; there were a few others besides the Duosion and Elgyem that Spoink overheard that left his class late today. He shook his head and brought his attention back to the Spoink. "A year after I entered The Academy. I was no different than you are today. I got it all from my classmates, but I learned to stand up to them."

Spoink sighed. So _that's_ what this was all about now. He was going to learn now to stand up to his bullies. Did they know it was happening behind their backs now? Because they were so powerless to stop it if they didn't see it, were they going to teach Spoink how to defend himself against those that tormented him?

"I don't want to learn how to defend myself against them," Spoink said. "I just want to tap into my Sight so they stop."

"I'm not here to teach you how to stand up to those bullying you, Spoink," Mr. Alakazam replied. "I'm going to help you tap into your Sight."

"How?" Spoink asked.

"You'll see," Mr. Alakazam said. He turned to grab a folder of papers from his desk, and he placed it on the desk in front of Spoink. "We'll meet every Monday for our lessons. Complete all of this paperwork by the time we meet next week."

The nerves from earlier came back as Spoink just peeked at the first few pages of what was in the folder. It was several pages of work with questions that his young mind didn't fully understand from just glancing at them. Still, when he looked back up at the Alakazam, he felt a wave of calm wash over him. Knowing that there was someone like him, someone who didn't tap into their Sight until a year after they'd entered The Academy for the first time, comforted him. He wasn't alone in this school because there was someone who was once like him.

But even more questions popped into Spoink's head. Did Mr. Alakazam have someone to help him along the way or was he on his own? Why did he take on Spoink as a student as opposed to Mr. Hypno or any other teacher in the school? Were there others in The Academy like him or was he the only one?

"That'll be all for today, you can go home," Mr. Alakazam said.

"Oh," Spoink said, coming out of his thoughts and away from the million questions that were now racing through his mind. "Okay."

He picked up the folder and headed home. At least now there would finally be a break in this monotonous routine he picked up. Spoink had a lot of work ahead of him for the next week, and probably the next several weeks.


	5. The First Spark

**Author's Note:** I'm participating in Inktober this month, even though I'm not an artist at all, so I think that may slow progress on this story a little bit. I don't know, we'll see. I'm trying to balance things out, haha. I do want to get this finished by the end of the month though because I'll be doing NaNoWriMo in November, and I don't want to be in the middle of a chapter story when that comes around, especially since the story I'm doing for NaNoWriMo is going to be a chapter story. But for now, the focus is on this story, so let's keep it moving!

The first week of homework Mr. Alakazam gave Spoink was dreadful. There was pages of work with multi part questions. It took days for Spoink to complete it, and he'd started it the day he received the assignments. He would spend hours after school working on it, and for a little while, he thought there would be no end in sight.

Thankfully, the end came by Sunday afternoon, and he was able to spend the rest of the day giving his tired brain a break.

Unfortunately for him, he had to go back to school the next day, and it would be a long day between his normal instruction and the time after school with Mr. Alakazam.

When the afternoon came, Spoink arrived at room 10 and placed the papers on Mr. Alakazam's desk. His instructor wasn't in the room upon arrival, but Spoink took his seat anyways. Why Mr. Alakazam wasn't there upon Spoink's arrival was beyond him, but he trusted that the teacher would show up.

Sure enough, he did.

"My apologies for being late," he said. "I had to visit the office to speak with the principal and some parents about their children's behavior."

"It's okay," Spoink replied. Mr. Alakazam picked up Spoink's papers on his desk and quickly flipped through them. There were noises of approval and noises of disappointment, but Mr. Alakazam placed the papers back down on his desk gently.

"Today, we'll be trying to tap into your Sight for the first time," Mr. Alakazam said. "I'd like you to repeat after me, 'I can see in the darkness.'"

"I can see in the darkness," Spoink repeated.

"The light will guide me," Mr. Alakazam said.

"The light will guide me," Spoink repeated.

Mr. Alakazam nodded. "Very good. Now I understand this won't be the first time an incident like this has occurred, but I'd like for you to step into the closet in the back of the room."

A wave of nervousness washed over Spoink. Mr. Alakazam was aware of the incident from the beginning of the school year, when he was put into a closet and teased for his lack of Sight. How did he know about that? Did Mr. Hypno tell him? It wasn't something he put in his pages of homework, at least not that he could remember. There was so much written on those pages that he couldn't remember everything he said. Spoink shook his head. He didn't want to think about those dark times anymore. He just wanted his Sight.

"Don't worry, the door won't be locked. You'll be able to get out when you want to," Mr. Alakazam said. "Just remember the words that we just said, 'I can see in the darkness. The light will guide me.'"

Mr. Alakazam's words did nothing to comfort Spoink, but he went ahead and got up and entered the closet anyways. At the very least, he would keep Mr. Alakazam's words in mind as he closed the door to the closet. They weren't comforting, but perhaps they would help him.

Being in the closet reminded Spoink of the time he'd been in the closet on the first day of school. When Elgyem and Espurr approached him, asking if he wanted to join in on a game, only to lock him in a closet and laugh at him for his lack of Sight. Their laughter and taunts echoed in his mind as he stood in the closet.

" _I told you he doesn't have his Sight!"_

" _Of course he doesn't, he can't even see in the dark. He's scared of it."_

" _You want a light, Spoink? Try turning on your Sight. Oh wait, you don't have it."_

Spoink whimpered as he sank to the ground. The taunting words of his classmates overpowered the words of Mr. Alakazam. His classmates' words echoed over Mr. Alakazam's to the point where he couldn't even hear them in his head.

"I can see in the darkness. The light will guide me," Spoink said, but he couldn't even hear himself over the words of his classmates echoing in his mind.

"I can see in the darkness. The light will guide me," he repeated, this time a little louder than the first. He could hear himself speaking, but he couldn't make out the words. He repeated it again and again, each time a little louder than the last, until his own words overpowered the words of his classmates.

And then there was light.

It was brief and only for just a moment, but it was there. Spoink saw it. He was able to see the blurry makings of storage drawers in the closet. His beady black eyes never adjusted to the brief flash of light, but that was okay.

The brief flash of light was all he needed to give himself a spark of hope. It was all he needed to know that the Sight truly was in him.

"I did it!" Spoink said, opening the door to the closet. "I got a flash of light!"

"I saw," Mr. Alakazam said, a bit of a smile forming on his face. "It was brief, but I saw it."

"Is that what happened to you too?" Spoink asked, taking his seat.

"No, I got my ability to see in the darkness all at once. There were no sparks," Mr. Alakazam said. "I was able to stand up to my bullies from the beginning, and I learned to not fear what they had to say to me."

A small frown formed on Spoink's face. He wasn't here to learn how to stand up to his bullies, and yet that's what he was learning. At the same time though, he was tapping into his Sight. What was Mr. Alakazam getting at here?

But then it clicked.

Mr. Alakazam stood up to his bullies from the beginning, but he had to _learn_ how to not fear what they said to him. Though he was able to stand up to them, their words still hurt him, and he had to learn to not let them hurt him so he could tap into his Sight. It was almost the same case for Spoink. In his case, he had to let their actions _and_ their words not get to him.

That was why Mr. Alakazam asked him to go into the closet. It was the same action his classmates did to him, only they locked the door and didn't let him out until Mr. Hypno returned to the room while Mr. Alakazam left it unlocked in case it was too much for him and he wanted to get out. And then all he had to do was overcome their words.

And he did it.

"Thank you," Spoink finally said. "Now I see that I have the power in me. I just have to let it fully come out."

Mr. Alakazam nodded. "We'll meet again next week, but don't forget what I've taught you today, young Spoink. You'll need it."

Spoink frowned again, but he nodded anyways. He wasn't fully sure of what Mr. Alakazam's words meant just yet, but it didn't matter. All he knew was that the Sight was in him, and all he had to do at this point was tap into it.


	6. Getting Stronger

**Author's Note:** I'm hoping to get this story finished up before the end of the month because I want to be able to participate in r/Pokemon's spooky writing competition as well with a one shot. I've already got the story planned out, but I also don't want to leave this story unfinished because of NaNoWriMo coming up. That said, I'm not going to try and rush this story either. If I can't participate in the writing competition because this story is unfinished, then so be it. I'll still write the story, it'll just happen a lot later than now, and that's okay. Sometimes it's better late than never.

Though Spoink gained his Sight, he kept it to himself. Not even his parents knew yet. Only Mr. Alakazam knew, and of course, himself. There were some things that just needed to be kept a secret, and this was one of those things.

The bullying continued to be relentless, and Spoink finally learned to ignore it. Now that he had his Sight, he knew their comments were no longer true. He was just waiting for the right moment to show them that he did indeed have his Sight.

The opportunity would come sooner than young Spoink expected though.

It was only a couple days after he tapped into his Sight for the first time that he found himself back in the closet. It was Wednesday morning, and not all of Spoink's classmates had arrived to school just yet. Those that had arrived managed to push Spoink into the closet and lock him in again.

' _I can see in the darkness. The light will guide me.'_

Mr. Alakazam's words echoed in his mind, though they were muddled in with the words of his classmates, taunting him as they always did. Some of them even banged on the closet door. Spoink cowered in fear. It was one thing for him to get a spark of light when Mr. Alakazam gave him the option to get out, when he wasn't taunting him with his words, when he wasn't banging on the door. It was another when he was unable to get out, having to listen to his classmates relentlessly taunt him, and listening to his classmates bang on the door.

Spoink took a deep breath. "I can see in the darkness. The light will guide me," he said to himself, softly. He couldn't hear himself over the noise his classmates made, but he repeated himself anyways, still keeping his voice low. He didn't want them to hear, if they even could with all of the noise they were making.

He focused on his words. "I can see in the darkness. The light will guide me," he said to himself and repeated over and over in his mind. Spoink was able to drown out the sounds of his classmates with the words of Mr. Alakazam, the very same words he'd repeated just a couple days before when he got that little, brief spark of light.

And then it happened.

Everyone got silent.

The door opened, and there was a bright light coming from the pink orb on Spoink's head. There was a moment between the door opening and the light fading away. It took a moment for Spoink's eyes, and everyone else's too, to adjust. Mr. Hypno, as well as some of Spoink's other classmates, were in the room at this point, but no one spoke. The students just went to their seats and sat in silence, even through Mr. Hypno's lecture. No one argued, no one complained that they would have to stay back if they were there taunting poor Spoink yet again while their instructor happened to not be in the room; they just accepted it.

But then, halfway through Mr. Hypno's lecture, it all faded to black. There were no lights this time though. No, in fact, all of the lights in the classroom were very much on, and The Academy still had power. The only thing out of place was the Spoink on the floor of the classroom with glazed over black eyes focused on the ceiling.


	7. The First Vision

**Author's Note:** I originally had a goal to finish this before the beginning of NaNoWriMo in November. It's now February, and suffice it to say, this isn't finished and I didn't really get very far with NaNoWriMo last year. Oh well, it's a new year now, and now my goal is to just finish what I started, one way or another. It helps that this story is nearly done too, so I can move onto other stories. But for now, I'm gonna finish up _Without the Sight_ , and to make progress towards that, I'm gonna get this chapter done.

 _There were voices all around him. He opened his eyes slowly. The lights were bright, and it took a moment for his eyes to adjust to the light and also his surroundings._

 _He was in the hallway of the school. Other Pokemon surrounded him. All of them looked concerned for his well being, but he bounced up, slowly at first, then gaining more bounce after a moment. The Pokemon that surrounded him cheered. They were happy and excited._

 _He blinked. This was all so odd, but it made him feel happy._

 _He blinked again. Everything turned black._

Spoink groaned as he sat up with the help of Mr. Hypno. He looked around the classroom after his eyes adjusted to the light, which was thankfully dimmed but his eyes still needed some time to adjust. His classmates were gone.

"I sent them out to recess," Mr. Hypno said. "Shortly after you passed out. I'm sure they're talking about it, but I figured sending them away while you recovered was for the best."

"What happened?" Spoink asked.

"I think that's a discussion for you and Mr. Alakazam later today," Mr. Hypno said, standing up. Faint voices could be heard coming from the hallway. They got louder as they approached the door. "Your classmates are coming back."

Spoink sighed and returned to his seat, ducking his head to avoid the gaze of his classmates as they walked back into the room. He could hear the whispers around him, but he tuned them out. He already knew they were talking about him, but he didn't particularly want to listen to it.

The remainder of the day passed by slowly for young Spoink, as it always did. During the course of the class, he made note of what he saw when he passed out. He didn't want to forget before he got to speak with Mr. Alakazam and find out what happened to him when he passed out.

At the end of the day, when Spoink arrived at Mr. Alakazam's room, the teacher was waiting for his arrival. He was seated on the edge of his desk, and he smiled upon Spoink's arrival.

"I heard you passed out earlier," Mr. Alakazam said after Spoink closed the door. The young Pokemon sighed. Of course Mr. Alakazam knew already. Word around the school always traveled fast. There were no secrets in this place.

"I was hoping you could tell me a little bit about it," Spoink said, unfolding the crumpled up piece of paper he'd written notes on during class. "I guess I was seeing something through my own eyes, but people were actually happy to see me. I'm not sure what happened, I was waking up in whatever I saw and people were happy I was awake."

Mr. Alakazam nodded slowly. "That was a vision."

"What? A vision?"

"You've had your first vision," Mr. Alakazam said. "They're vague at first, but they get more clear."

"So what was mine about?" Spoink asked.

"I'm not sure. Something likely happened to you, but it's hard to say what exactly," Mr. Alakazam said.

"Will I find out?" Spoink asked.

"When the time comes, yes," Mr. Alakazam replied. "You may or may not have another vision about it before the time comes, but you'll understand everything when the time comes."

Spoink sighed, but he felt a bit of joy inside of him. Knowing that his classmates would eventually come to like him and cheer him on filled him with joy. Not knowing what would lead to that disappointed him, for he wished for that moment to come sooner. He was tired of his classmates' displeasure and the way they spoke poorly about him behind his back.

"Okay," Spoink finally said. "I guess I'll see you later then."

Mr. Alakazam nodded, and Spoink left the classroom to head home. Everything would come to light soon enough, he supposed. Time would only tell what all the details of the vision were to Spoink.


	8. With the Sight

**Author's Note:** This is the final chapter of _Without the Sight_! I didn't realize I was already at the end of this story, haha. Well, on the plus side, I'll be able to start publishing other works on here sooner rather than later. Keep your eyes peeled for my next one, which will hopefully be posted within the next month, and thank you for reading!

With his newfound Sight, Spoink noticed changes in the community at The Academy and around the caverns. Just in twenty-four hours, people were already treating him differently. Word spread quickly around the caverns and The Academy.

As each day passed over the course of a week, more and more Pokemon in the community treated him differently. They showed him kindness and compassion. Everyone did a complete 180 from how they were originally treating him when they learned he didn't possess the Sight when he started attending The Academy.

After the first couple days of the change in treatment, Spoink met up with Mr. Alakazam and asked him if he experienced something similar when he found his Sight.

"Yes," he told Spoink. "Everyone's attitudes changed towards me. They started to treat me with respect, so much so that I was able to become a teacher here at The Academy."

Spoink was glad to hear that this wasn't just something happening to him. He wasn't sure if teaching was going to be in his future, but he had several more years to think about that. He wasn't even a Grumpig yet, and no one really expected him to genuinely know what he wanted to do in life at such a young age.

By the time a month passed by since Spoink tapped into his Sight for the first time, he found friends in some of his classmates. There was hesitation at first, for Spoink remembered how they treated him before he tapped into his Sight, but he was able to forgive and mostly forget the past as he moved forward and forged new friendships with his classmates. How they treated him in the past was in the past. He needed to move forward and not let past issues cloud his future judgement.

And besides, if they did him wrong in the future, then there were other Pokemon in the caverns that he could reach out to to be his friend.

But with each passing day, Spoink didn't experience anything he experienced in the past. The pain and loneliness he experienced before turned into happiness and excitement. He was able to finish out his first year of school alongside his newfound friends who would hopefully be by his side for the rest of his life.


End file.
